Abstract:
The main purpose of this study is to assess and analyze the circulation of counterfeit currency in
an economy as a means of economic sabotage and in light of that evaluating the acceptance
feasibility of replacement of cash transactions by cashless transactions to counter such an
economic sabotage.
This research is about Pakistan but most of the factors and insights are universal like the issues
of counterfeit currency itself. Through a questionnaire, respondents were asked several questions
through which the acceptability among people of substitution of cash transactions by cashless
transactions is examined. Cashless transactions have their own dynamics. So is the case with
“cashless society” which is a society where there are very few or almost no cash transactions
because the prevalent means of transacting are cashless e.g, plastic money(debit card etc),
electronic transactions.
The process of transforming into a cashless society has its own hindrances. When there’s issue of
increasing penetration of counterfeit currency in the economy, the very immediate as well as
crucial one is about the acceptability among masses. This might not be something easy to deal
with when the economic sabotage of counterfeit currency is showing its colors and on the other
we hand we have people among the masses who have been victims of phishing, who have been
victims of ATM machine malfunctioning, who have been victims of their own faults in some
electronic transaction and are fearful of such transactions since then, people who are
uncomfortable with technology, people who don’t believe in state-policing and surveillance and
see electronic transaction systems as tools for these, those who are naturally resistant to change
and many more. It’s pertinent to mention here that efforts are underway in different parts of the
world to make those regions cashless. Besides the obvious developments in this direction in
Sweden and Nigeria, countries including Canada, Australia, Japan, France, Ghana etc might be
among the next in line. Also, there are fears and concerns about cashless society which do carry
weight.
The issue of counterfeit currency has not become significantly harmful for Pakistan’s economy
as of yet. Let us all pray and hope that it remains so.
